Open Thread
By Nicole Belle Monday Jul 23, 2007 10:33pm
Someone sent me this video with the subject line "Ah...the good ole days."
What do you think-- funny or insulting?
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8)
All right, I'm confused. Was this produced as some sort of satire or were the producers actually serious?
Definitely funny!
Rats! Almost Frist! :( :P
it's insulting to men that like cats! ;-)
twice now in less than a week that someone who publicly supports impeachment has been arrested.
with the laws bush has created and signed into law in the last few months; gave himself sweeping unconditional/unconstitutional power over all the branches of govt in case of any terrorist attack to the usa anywhere, just recently to block and confiscate any and all your assests(sp), no habeus corpus and the right to declare anyone an enemy combattan of the usa, we are in for a rough period until bush/cheney leave(if they do) at the end of this term of office.
Of course it's funny! It's funny as hell. It ranks right up there with "Reefer Madness."
Now what if she had felt that returning to the gold standard was good for the UK? Would the men have approved?
it's funny because it's so over the top insulting.
Someone help me out on some mumbo jumbo stuff.
So anyway whats the story the world has to be blown up to smithereens and a 1000 year reign of peace begins?
Or is it there will be a 1000 years of peace when mankind blows itself off of the face of earth completely?
Yeow. If it weren't for the laugh track, it looks like a PSA for Conservative Women of America.
dadams @ 6:
Yes I've noticed they've been getting aggressive with the arrests lately. No one slamming Obama or Hillary is getting arrested though.
It's funny because it could have been written by Ann Coulter, except she'd be serious.
If you look around on the Google, you'll see it's attributed to a Harry Enfield who's had a series of shows in the UK since the early '90s.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Enfield_and_Chums
It looks like some modern sketch off of a British sketch comedy show, but I don't recognise the players...meant to be funny, not my cuppa. Not offensive either. I think I have a different sense of humour...
It's a clip from English comedian Harry Enfield - the bloke to the lady's right - and it's definitely satire.
It's a piss-take on all those old government "education" films that used to be shown before the main film in cinemas.
darrelplant @ 13:
Oh, I like Harry Enfield's work too. Just not this one. Thanks for the attribution, darrelplant.
"funny or insulting?"
Neither.
Clearly satire, or a parody, or a farce or whatever, but I must admit to becoming a bit miffed at how information is "stored" in a woman's brain. :)
dadams @ 6:
It can't happen here? Oh yes it can.
I guess there are two different kinds of people in the world.
For one the good old days are the 50's with poodle skirts and "Golly Gee"s.
For the others it is the 60s with Love and peace, Hendrix and sitars.
I happen to be of the 60s crowd.
Suit you, sir!
Not funny...HILARIOUS.
There is nothing better than mocking both genders with extreme stereotyping.
I'd want context before passing judgement. On a humor show, it'd be pretty funny as satire. If it's produced by Rupert Murdoch, it's typical mean-spirited conservative put-down.
If she had agreed with the men, they would have given her a book deal and told her to shout down anyone who disagreed.
Carleton @ 20:
The good old days. The 50's. After 30 years of misery and economic depression and world war anything would seem like the Good Old Days.
What? You mean this is not instantly recognisable to any sentient being as a modern parody of old-fashioned stereotypes?
Wow.
Looks like that stereotype of Americans not getting irony might actually hold some water.
What a riot! (and obviously meant to be satire, whoever predicated it with 'good ol' days' was clearly making a sporting jab)
But did anyone see "Letter to Three Wives"? It was made in the US in the fifties; totally hilarious, yet was trying to be serious & dramatic.
Parody obviously, but eerily reminiscent of actual bush administration beliefs. I wouldn't be surprised if S.G. nominee Holsinger believed it to be real.
loved it! turns out Laura Bush is an outstanding actress and does pretty good british accent!
satire but still eludes to what i said in other post about america NEVER being a good and free place. it's always been screwed up. full of discrimination and oppression.
Very funny. Well done satire.
You go Rich White Boy!!!
Good satire and a new film made to look old.
Health care's not the only thing that's free in Cuba.
Are soft drinks bad for your heart?
Obama tells it like it is, and scares hawk-lite Hillary. Funny that Albright uses the phrase "spadework" in regard to Obama...
It's the best kind of parody because, though it seems exaggerated to you and I, there are people who would see this and wonder what the laugh track was for.
It's in this same spirit that I watch the kids and do the dishes while supporting my wife in her career.
Buck the patriarchal paradigm!
I think it's a pretty good short. It's funnier if you've actually seen some of the public ed shorts from the 50s that they're parodying.
Didn't the ending applause from the previous sketch kinda give it away?
Harry Enfield and chums...... great comedy, shame the guy is a tory.
Actually, if you've every seen the 'tory boy' character, he's not very kind to them.
Of course, it's a parody. It's supposed to be funny like Saturday Night Live is funny.
Of course, my dad still thinks this way at 90, humiliates you if you say something intelligent or question your doctor, still drives his mercedes with a rum & coke between his legs. Ah yes, those were the days.
Very true. Of course, in the history mankind, it has been the best and the freest, so we do have that going for us.
whats so funny? its a documentary right? cuz its all true. Its not realistic because the woman is speaking. ;)
This I thought was one of their best Grayson/Chomeley-Warner black-and-white parodies.
FleaBailey @ 7:
Yes, Yes. My thoughts exactly.
hilarious...obvious satire #2......
Ozguy @ 26:
Actually the person that sent this to me has been very vocally disparaging of my political opinions and work here at C&L.
Although I recognize the source as satire, I have a sneaky suspicion--based on his history of criticism--that he meant it to be a little insulting.
Why does it remind me of this video?
That was obviously a troll training film produced by the Bee People!
It's a little thing called "satire." And in the good old days, a lot of people recognized it when they saw it. Fortunately, in the savvy, hellzapoppin' 21st century, it takes a paleontologist to point such things out to us. We're just so darned productive and serious now that nobody much recognizes "satire" any more. But hey, laughter won't fill the gas tank or pay grandma's tab at the nursing home (wink).
more from Harry Enfield..... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzhlAQgv7kE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNmBauXYzgc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5KNJTbyRgE
That's hilarious. Thanks for the laugh, Nicole.
It's not that we can't recognize satire anymore because we are working, it's because Tony Snow and Bush and Alberto speak to the public. They have us all very confused. Are they satire? Pun? Slapstick?
Our govenment has ruined our sense of comic timing. I mean what was Dick Gregory laughing at when he was on stage with MC Rove dancing around like a bunny with kung-fu hands? Is that funny? I would have ran for my life. He looked like that stupid talking doll, hopping around out there.
L.A. Confidential @ 10:
Well, my grandfather is a prophecy preacher and conservative Christian (who doesn't like Bush: imagine!), so I'll see what I can do.
Not quite. It's that there will be a world government that will persecute Christians. The leader will anoint himself as God in the rebuilt Temple of Solomon, and declare war on Israel, and by extension, God. Jesus will come back just before the war destroys everyone to stop the war and take his seat as king.
Well, you gotta admit that would do it, presuming we didn't take the rest of creation with us.
willnyc @ 29:
Laura Bush? I think she looks more like Mary Matalin.
obviously satire and tongue-in-cheek, funny, not insulting, taking a shot at those who actually believe(d) that women should just smile and not engage in education or thought and contribute.
I would think "ah the good 'ole days" would be a joke, making fun of those who believe it to be true, depends on the sender of course..
I think the laugh track gives it away as a modern satire of old educational reels, even without knowing the provenance.
Nicole, just because the person who sent it to you is too stupid to realize they've been had is no reason to take it in an insulting manner.
The fact that it's presented as a period piece shows that it's presenting the views expressed as antiquated. They're making fun of how out-of-date those views are. Now, if it was set in modern dress, with a current graphic style, you might have a point. Otherwise, I'd chalk it up to the a difference in what's considered funny.
Maybe some here might remember the days when you had those old Pathe newsreels on before the main film. Those days, there were also Government sponsored health films which were extremely patronising and sexist. TV in the 50s and 60s also had the odd "educational" film too and often very right wing. That's what Enfield is getting at - in a sort of 'over the top' manner. The clip, below, contains Northern England mannerisms and colloqualisms meant to portray the Labour party (old Labour, ie pre-Blair) as dirty, filthy Communists. Much of England's media had a very right wing, pro-Establishment flavour back then with stereotyping of class, foreigners etc. The BBC has a history of being extremely reactionary at times.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnxPuidq1qQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39qdhbkTko4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pi0QvX6cG0k
Here are some more
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ivsb79-h90
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZ0jRuASVEQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08BqaSuEE_w
seems like a repug dinner :lol:
Now thats a good video, it very precise and we should listen. Women should not think too much and just listen to their men. We know best ladies and you should just concentrate on improving you're recipes and cooking. It harks back to a simpler time and that is the way it should be. :)
so bush said earlier this week that 9/11 is linked to Iraq (for many years now), he has also said on several occasions that another terrorist attack is going to happen. in fact since the government de-funded public radio, i have heard on knx1070 and kcrw89.1 on several occasions spew the same rhetoric that sounds much like doomsday evangelists claiming rapture is coming and the world is ending. when i was a young lad my pastor was convinced it was going to happen the summer of '91. he told us every sunday that it could be this week, next month, but that god told him it was going to happen within the year. the difference between my pastor and bush, bush receives updates on intelligence daily and if for any reason this happens, i hope that the report he crumples up is not the only copy and someone with a heart, soul, or any feelings for human beings makes the right decision this time and not let something of this nature go unnoticed again. bush is praying for this to happen. in fact he wrote himself in as decider of all deciders if it does. here is the link
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/05/21/bush-wants-full-control-of-gove...
don't let bush take over this country, he will not give it back
It seems a little late in the day for this kind of satire, and as such it is a little insulting. If it had been made twenty or thirty years ago, it would have been effective. Now, it's just a slightly weird reminder of a day past that seems to have been made by an old man who really needs to get with more current attitudes. I KNOW it's meant to be an anachronism (before you all start piling on my head, saying I don't "get it".) But it's kind of like making fun of Amos and Andy to a Gen Xer. It's like, yeah, we know...NEXT! Not that it isn't great for what it is...it's a well done production.
are we sure karen hughes isn't using it as an educational aid in islamic countries?
Harry Enfield and chums…… great comedy, shame the guy is a tory.
-zarniwhoop
I think Loony is right, Enfield's a Labour supporter. Hope I'm not wrong.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ys40_HxB7BM
anonymous @ 62:
ok. you could have stopped there, yawned, stretched and tucked yourself in. look at it in the morning and have a day-opening laugh at the parody of days gone bye-bye.
or look at it as a republiscum talking point... and then laugh.
Offensive if you don't understand satire.
Or looking to be offended.
While I'm waiting for the video to download, I couldn't believe these comments from Bush earlier today, akin to 'what healthcare problem?'. We're all used to hearing the worthless drivel, but today's seemed especially revealing of his shockingly high level of disassociation from reality and a really unbelievable level of ignorance.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/4989306.html
Also, we haven't heard ANYTHING about this story until very recently. There's been a HUGE devaluation of the U$ Dollar in a relatively short period of time. I mean, the Canadian quarter is now worth more than a U$ quarter! That's pretty shocking to me. Not to mention the Euro's huge rise in relative value. For the most part, this is not a good thing. Just add it to the list.
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070723/dollar_gold.html?.v=6
pc has killed so much humor in the u.s..
british satire is where it's at. very funny.
I didn't realize the Republician Party made movies, I only thought they fielded presidental candidates.
A proper example of English humor and funny, very funny. This kind of comedy can never be insulting. The Monty Python Flying Circus is my favorite comedy unsurpassed by no one to date, not even the golden years of Saturday Night Live.
I think it was satire w/intent to get a message out through the censor-nazis.
Speaking of censor-nazis, I just watched that long Bill O'Really clip. Man, does he really think he makes sense when he says "I could find another 30 (comments) like that." when there are millions of comments on the Kos?
But I was impressed that he knows how to pronounce "Kos". He must listen to Air America and Nova M. :-)
Well, it's funny in a sadistic way. But it's a good reminder of the way women used to be expected to act in days of yore. Some people still expect that, I guess, but those who do are definitely not in the mainstream, let alone the cutting edge.
Funny. Uh...wait, uh..I forget. What did I just say?
yolady @ 74:
Lol.
I imagine this is how Bush feels when he tries to contribute to the conversation at Cheney's dinner table.
Check this out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7vz-WDyK3k&mode=related&search=
What to Do On a Date - 1950
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WH4NWbPABw
L.A. Confidential @ 78:
I remember this sh*t. My thoughts was good gawd where in the hell am I? What planet?
Was the brunette a young Harriet Meiers?
1950 - What Makes a Good Party
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nvivEqxjsI&mode=user&search=
BaScOmBe @ 66:
How sweetly condescending you are. What did I do to deserve it, I wonder?
Just Me @ 23:
That's a good point.
I think the part where they show the woman's brain over loading with information is balls out funny. Obvious parody. There's a very subtle play on the conformity of the two men immediately agreeing on the gold standard, in fact with one man saying "then it's agreed" after they both nod at each other.
Not being a woman, I can say it made me laugh. But as to whether it was funny, I have to ask if I would still laugh if the subject were ethnic minorities? No.
Just because it makes you laugh, doesn't mean it's 'funny'.
[Deleted]
[PS I guess, judging from your attempts to continue to post here, even though you are reviled by it, I should add "You're banned" as well.]
LeeBee @ 86:
Now, THAT made me laugh. It wasn't funny, but it made me laugh...
Nicole Belle @ 46:
Then that person really comes across as an "get a brain moran" type just parroting something. And/Or finds asking questions to be "foreign" to their way of thinking.
BTW. I didn't recognize it either. But did remind be of British humor that used to be played a lot on PBS. Speaking of which:
Prabhata @ 71:
No it isn't.
LeeBee @ 86:
Said the putz, adding his own comment to the list..
To quote Karen from Will & Grace, "It's funny because it's true."
Kidding - It made me think of 'The Atomic Cafe'
Here's a clip:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=9vIdIwrlddw
There is nothing funny about this. Returning to the Gold Standard is a serious issue. And what was that about American's lacking an appreciation of irony?
Err, I guess I've lived in the UK too long. I thought it was funny. Are Americans really that tightly wound these days that anyone would find this offensive? Really?
Oh well, I'm only a woman and I don't know anything about comedy, nevermind the gold standard. But I do love soft furry little kittens...
nonny mouse @ 92:
Yes, we are tightly wound these days. No surprise. I don't believe it has much to do with some of us finding this offensive, though. To me, it's just passe (now how does one make the little accent thingy on the "e" there...) Those attitudes seem so "done" to me that satirizing them is like shooting fish in a barrel. If satire is supposed to make you think and perhaps to reexamine your own attitudes, does this one not fail precisely because it is too heavy-handed for today's lingering vestiges of sexism? This American finds it too unsubtle and strangely irrelevant.
But then, I live in Oregon. In an urban area. Perhaps I am naive about just how prevalent such overt expressions of sexism are in other areas.
Not funny...not long ago that was the way it was (still is in many homes) not only around the world but more specifically the US. Women were nothing more than property and could be treated or mistreated according to their husband's, boss or almost any male person's decisions. Male slaves were given the right to vote in 1869...All women basically had no rights until they got the right to vote in 1920 and since then has been a very slow process. Sorry about being a downer but I am old enough that I have seen this type of treatment of women in my lifetime.
Great parody, funny as hell. And a good predictor, too.
Ladies, if your "significant other" watches this, pumps his arm and yells, "Yeah!" Don't walk, run.
nonny mouse @ 92:
I love british humour, and I love that golden age of British Comedy-the late 80s-90s, "murder Most Horrid," Ben Elton, Harry Enfield, "Spitting Image" "Blackadder," early "Red Dwarf" Lenny Henry, "Chef" all that.
I did not think this was Enfields best... I guess I'm more of a 'Loadsa Money (Dosh!)" kinda gal
Of course this is a parody, but it's only funny if you think we've really come very far past this. The humour is a bit complacent.
I would have substituted the audience laughs with sounds of embarrassment at the woman's social faux pas.
Satire of old films is always better when it's just barely discernible.
As for kittens, I can take them or leave them, but my dogs love them.
Prelinger Arcives at http://www.archive.org/details/prelinger has a lot of this stuff. http://www.archive.org/details/Survival1951
Around 3:30 the show a bunch of kids trudging back from school. Then goes "What if the warning sound sounds? What should you do? Look for cover. The nearest cover. Don't try to make it home unless home is the nearest place to go!"
The kids split up. All going to their homes (apparently they're close). One kid who "hesitates".
What?! None of your so-called friends you just rollin' with won't take you in? That must suck. But as the video goes on to assure that "strangers will understand."
jimbo92107 @ 98:
They're delicious!
I can't believe I found this. It wasn't meant as humor back in 1955.
I give you The Good Wife's Guide
Now this is funny!
Comedian Red Buttons -- Last performance!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEE_mpWRFt8
I pictured Kristol and Coulter as a couple in this spoof.........
Perhaps David Vitter and his escort?
personally i prefer alan partridge.
Funny in a conservobot kind of way
Was that Eric Idle?
Otherwise it's probably a required video for Intro to Sociology 101 at Bob Jones University.
Robt @ 103:
yeah, Vitter's whore could say "I don't know anything about the gold standard but: TWENTY DOLLAR!"
Take away the accents and its like a contemporary GOP training film.
Forget the kittens, show me the grown pussy!
chaileann @ 94, and that's what they want to regress this country back to. Men owning women. It's the loser's way of getting laid.
People are mistaken about this being a Harry Enfield sketch--it's Fred Thompson's first campaign ad, which is receiving high approval from the CWA.
Insulting, but obviously so.
Hilarious. And I'm a feminist. Proud one. If you can't laugh at how stupid things used to be, with all of the ridiculous stereotypes, and when it's obvious the filmmaker was not endorsing it, then, well, I dunno.
Sorta fits into the liberals have no sense of humor stereotype, to me.
The actress was Rep. Katherine Harris (R-FL)
> The actress was Rep. Katherine Harris (R-FL)
Yeah, she has restless kitty syndrome. :-) Is there a medicine for that?
The first thing I thought of was "What's My Line".
Dorothy Kilgallen researched the JFK assasination shortly after the event.
They killed her.
That B/W TV brings it home.
What a sick country.
that's, uhhh, comedy C & L...
Do we need to go over this again??
bns @ 117:
No I don't think so...YOU may want to peruse some of the 116 or so comments that were posted before you showed up, however...
Dennis Kucinich making something perfectly crystal clear:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgreLLMbbZk
Here's another of Harry Enfield's along the same lines:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZ0jRuASVEQ
and a different styled one, but this had me LMAO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-II284PnJo
[deleted - off topic]
At this point, I endorse Dennis Kucinich for our next President.
Could we get a Quicktime version of this please?
chaileann @ 94:
blah blah blah stfu
It's funny.
Clever. Clever as hell.
Love Dennis too but isn't this about the days of B/W TV?
When John Glenn came out of the Mercury capsule after three orbits and Dorothy Kilgallen told us that our government had just killed a "good" president?
I suggest my 121 "off topic" was as on topic as it gets.
But you won't hear from my lawyer on it.
I find it odd.
The issue still resonates.
A New Orleans judge lets a corrupt cop go.
They did the same thing with Dorothy they did with Marilyn, Dan, Abby and Mitch Snyder.
They chocked them and left empty pill bottles.
And the MSM bought it hook line and sinker.
Put Harry Enfield in to Youtube - there's more of this sort of thing ... And yes, anyone who knows anything abouT British humour knows that this is a classic 'piss-take'...
Our government was able to send out a few Manchurian Candidates. Bremmer, Sirhan and Mark David Chapman.
The big hit was JFK in 63 where they had a Naval Intelligence officer (Oswald) there to take the blame and go out in a mob hit. So sloppy everyone knew it was BS but our government and media has spent 40 years to back up the official story.
Then you ave the CIA kills with the pill bottles on Dorothy Kilgallen, Abbie Hoffman and the rest.
Along with the phoney election in 2000.
So good the world you know was never meant to be.
I thought that the piece was 'smirk-worthy'.
Hey, most of the only intelligent people I know are women!
30 seconds over Houston.
Bomb Texas.
We need to take a look at where we come from.
Cause I'd rather bomb the sh*t out of Texas than Bahgdad.
These Texan presidents seem to want the boys to die so they look good.
Dear Abbie, does this happen to you in your country?
Hell no, we impeach the SOB's.
Stanley Rosenthal @ 122:
Same here.
In lieu of an Al Gore announcement, then this Canadian endorses Dennis Kucinich for your next president, though Gravel appeals to my sensibilities as well. No top tier aboot it!
Hilarious !!
Complete satire. What year was this produced?
Gilda Radner's screen test for SNL :D
apologies if this has been posted before..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-tUtyoc5fA
I don't know what "satire" is, but I like kittens.
Are you serious by asking if this is insulting?
Will the Smashing Pumpkins help make a little musical intro for Representative Press? It doesn't hurt to ask a Pumpkin.
Don't you get it? This is the first of a series of swiftboat ads intending to attack Hilary's
ability to be President. In the next one, the graphic with info going into the woman's head
will have been replaced with Hilary's head. And the slogan will read - Hilary: Know Your Limits
Freakin' Hysterical, and more incontrovertible proof that the Brits are smarter than we are...and what a perfect setup for a segue into that kitten-juggling video that's been making the rounds last couple of days!
Could someone point me in the direction of the liberal media please? :( :(
Boring Paula Zahn is leaving CNN and right wing Campbell Brown from NBC, will be taking her place (so I hear thru the grapevine).
Campbell, known staunch republican, recently married to a Fox regular contributor of the republican party.
Can't stand either of these women but I'm sick of seeing more and more republicans in the media and yet everyone whines how liberal the media is.
Total BS
A funny insult to the people who still think like that.
Funny... and offensive. Keep in mind that Reefer Madness was a serious film when it was made, but is just hilarious now. Comedy should never offend anyone, but some people need to be told where the line is on reality versus comedy... it's like racial jokes - the comedy is in the play on words or idea and should be okay as long as one doesn't believe that the comedy or punchline is true and the statement is seen for its absurd or comedic intention.
Just my nickel (inflated two cents).
Greg Pagel @ 13:
Actually, if that was
aboutAnn Coulter (and Ann Coulter only), the clip would have been serious.LibertyLover @ 11:
Can you imagine this without the laugh track?
NOT FUNNY.
I'm a little shocked that there were people who didn't realise it was a satire on the sexism of 1950s society. I'm not sure how much more obvious it could have been.
D-man @ 2:
D-man @ 2:
It is a spoof from a British Comedy programme. Harry Enfield is one of the 'comedians' and the other is Paul Whitehouse.
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